Nosy neighbors and our broadband connection

The best part was when he told us not to contact him again.  That was really icing on the cake. 

Is he your dad or your high school guidance counsellor?   

Get a mobile dongle? I was looking into this recently and T Mobile does a deal on this which does not involve a fixed term contract.

We both have mobile broadband through 3, which we've been using since we got here.  The problem with this is that it's much more expensive (£30/month for both of us), and there's a 3G cap on it.  We're both heavy users, which is why we wanted Virgin, and we need faster speed as well.

That changes things slightly.

Lots of blocks of flats have an agreement whereby, instead of having individual dished, there is one cummunal dish for the block which won't involve drilling holes or having several unsightly dishes.  i think you may have to just go with the flow on this one.

Vicky

i think you may have to just go with the flow on this one.

Unfortunately, going with the flow involves having the nosy neighbor's mom accost me outside the front door, accusing me of having banged at the wall as I passed by her daughter's apartment.  Apart from that being a childish and pointless exercise, it's frustrating enough trying to do my work on an inadequate connection without a daily confrontation with the neighbors.  She even said, "Out you go," and shut the communal front door in my face as I was trying to tell her that I have no quarrel with her. 

Then your issues are about a LOT more than a broadband connection!


Vicky

If you have the funds...look to live elsewhere.  They sound terrible 

Then your issues are about a LOT more than a broadband connection!


Vicky

I forgot to mention that the nosy neighbor has keys to our flat--she seems like she's too chicken to actually do anything, but it's making us uncomfortable nonetheless. 

If you have the funds...look to live elsewhere.  They sound terrible 

Unfortunately, we don't have the funds.    We're thinking of going to a Citizens Advice Bureau to see if they have any suggestions as to what we can do.

If it is in the contract that you can't do this without permission, I would doubt there is anything the CAB can do.

Vicky

If it is in the contract that you can't do this without permission, I would doubt there is anything the CAB can do.

Like you said before, the issue has evolved into being about much more than the broadband connection.  The possibility of losing my job is one thing, but being threatened to 'end up in a world of trouble' and that we got 'our warning' makes me very uncomfortable about being in my own home since these are the very neighbors who have keys to our apartment.

Why do they have the keys to your apt and why do they have so much control over you? They aren't the landlord! It sounds like they like the mind game control bs. I'd report them to whatever agency/office/person needs to be told. I'd check my contract, but I hope they don't have a clause that says they can come into your apt whenever they want. That's breaking and entering in my book! I hope you get this resolved soon.

Why does the Nosey neighbour have keys to your flat?  Only the "Landlord" or "Property Agent" should hold these, and even then, they need to seek your approval at least twenty four hours prior to any intended visit.
Get them taken away, she has no reason to hold them.

Check with your local council as to what their definition of external alterations would be.  Fitting a cable and box for such as Virgin is not generally defined as an External Alteration, and usually people, including Council Tenants can have one of these fitted without seeking specific permission.

As previously mentioned; check, and re-check your lease, of which you should hold a copy as a matter of procedure.  If not, demand one.  Only if it specifically forbids the installation of a cable unit, and ties you to Sky are you obliged to follow their bidding.

Seems to me that this is, for some reason or another, more personal than anything else. If so, you have grounds.  See a Solicitor for your free half hour and check, always best to get the legal angle.

Also, keep a diary of events, including the "threats".  Always helps, particularly if you do seek legal advice.

Our landlady gave keys to the neighbor before she left--apparently they were really good friends while she was living here. 

Thanks for the tip about checking with the council--my flatmate and I are planning on doing that tomorrow, since our lease says nothing about not being allowed to install a cable unit.  My flatmate is also planning on filing a police report about the threats, and we've begun to keep a diary.

Solicitors give free half hour consultations?  That's useful information to know!  Would you or anyone else happen to know a good one in the Wimbledon area? 

Hiya Dulcineah/GrumpyStrumpet

sounds as though it's both of you in this property... apologies if I'm reading it incorrectly..

This situation sounds absolutley terrible, a neighbour in the same building should NOT have the keys to your place full stop. This needs to be fixed rightaway, I'd suggest changing the locks on the doors yourselves, getting a locksmith to do the change so the work is guaranteed and submitting the bill to the landlord.

All the time you are out of the property, who knows, this 'neighbour' might be snooping through all your belongings and that just doesn't bear thinking about!

As these people seem like the worst it's good you are keeping a diary of all events. Please be extra vigilant, take a good inventory of ALL your belongings and on a frequent basis check all is still there.

Have a check with the council, they may have some information, however, I suspect, that if the property is privatley owned, then the clauses and requirements can be over ruled (over the councils info) Usually (certainly for the apartment I own - and I'm also part freehold owner) external alterations would include a Satellite dish, Cable box etc (I was told I couldn't install a kitchen fan extractor for instance - so installed window mounted fans) so you would need to go along the routes of checking and re-checking the clauses in the contracts/lease/documentation.

Now for some practical advice in the meantime

1. With the amount of time and energy you'd need to expend just to see if you can get a hole drilled for Virgins broadband service - only you can decide if it's worth it compared to my 2nd point, which is -

2. Virgin are offering a 50 MB internet service to certain areas/customers at around £51/month. Is that the package you are requiring ? In your first post you mention as it's due to your flatmate's high volume usage. Would you mind breifly giving an overview on needing such a (for the UK!!) high speed service? this leads me to point 3...

3. I'm on a Home business (NOT home user) package from Be Broadband @ £21.50 per month and an 'upto' 24 MB service - real world average for me is between 11-15 MB/sec DL and 1MB UL. Static IP, and unlimited everything - absolutley fine for my requirements. You 'could' get an extra telephone line installed ( i think BT charge £125 for that) then ADSL enable that line from Be broadband and they will 'bond' them together giving you a significant bandwidth boost. You could opt to go with a different provider to provide a 'failover' feature, should one provider go 'offline' for some reason, you have the other one as backup. For that to work, you'd need a special box called a 'Balance Multi WAN Router' - basically like a normal router but with the capability to accept more than one input (WAN connection) have a look at this website http://www.peplink.com/balance/tech-spec/

- downsides to this whole arrangement is the extra costs of getting a line installed, and that currently is all up in arms anyway with the Virgin box scenario in the first place!

4. If the worst comes to the worst, have a look at http://www.thinkbroadband.com/ and check their forums for a business level ISP (small business or professional package as they're known by) and see which ones take your fancy - granted they'll only be 'upto' 24 MB/sec packages, but for the amount of hassle you are currently experiencing, it might be the only way to go and save you dosh with solicitors fees, install fees etc etc.

Lastly, i know it's no real consolation, but Broadband provision in the UK is diabolical - as usual, the amount of red tape and politics puts the UK broadband way lower than many other countries - Japan and South Korea I think have been enjoying GIGABIT bandwidth for a number of years now (not everyone, but certainly available) and many other countries having broken the home 100MB bandwidth options at least 2-3 years ago - makes the UK's 8 MB service seem like a pittance!

Good luck in everything - get rid of the stupid neighbour holding the keys, if they cause a stink ..    call in the cops that some of your stuff has gone missing..  and that *cough* the nasty neighbour has a key *cough*... 

Cheers! DtM! West London & Slough UK!

All the time you are out of the property, who knows, this 'neighbour' might be snooping through all your belongings and that just doesn't bear thinking about!

You can set traps to see if they are entering your property.  I set traps in my friends house when she suspected her landlord was snooping and confronted him afterwards.  He fully admited to everything.

You can set traps to see if they are entering your property.  I set traps in my friends house when she suspected her landlord was snooping and confronted him afterwards.  He fully admited to everything.

You set traps?